Starting a project on a Sterling/Musicman guitar I just got in a trade.

Unfortunately, the guy was a heavy, cheap cigarette smoker so it stinks. Like literally. I managed to get the smell out of the body with little effort (just soapy water), but the neck has been an issue. It's currently wrapped in a garbage bag full of baking soda. Honestly, if I can't get it out of the neck I'm going to just abandon the whole thing.

The guy also apparently lived in the rain forest or left the guitar out in the rain or something because there wasn't a single unrusted part on it. So they're all soaking in some vinegar right now in the hopes that I can remove it. I'm pretty sure I'll at least need end up replacing all the pickguard screws and the saddles. The rest should be salvageable.

Anyways, that brings me to the electronics, which are a mess. Definitely needs a new 5-way switch and thinking of installing some concentric pots. As for pickups I was kind of thinking Alumitones, but I'm not totally sold yet.

I have no idea how I should wire it up though. I was thinking of using a set of concentric pots I have kicking around, but how would I wire that? Individual volumes and a master tone? Or maybe a common volume/tone for the single coils and a volume/tone for the hunmbucker?

Some wiring ideas: A 5-way super switch would give you the ability to do some crazier series/parallel/phase reverse combos. I've also seen dudes leave the middle pickup out of the switch entirely and have it on a blend pot instead, so that they can blend it in and out of any setting on the switch.

I actually really like this idea, but I don't really understand the no load pot. Couldn't I achieve the same thing by wiring a standard pot as a volume directly to the output?

I already have a standard 5-way switch on the way. So if I leave the middle pickup out of the switch and blend it in, then I'd probably wire it neck humbucker/neck humbucker split/both humbuckers/bridge humbucker split/bridge humbucker. I also have a couple SPDT switches that I might wire in to achieve some series/parallel/phase combos

MrNovember wrote:I actually really like this idea, but I don't really understand the no load pot. Couldn't I achieve the same thing by wiring a standard pot as a volume directly to the output?

To tell you the truth, I'm still building my understanding of how all of this stuff works, so I couldn't really tell ya. I'd probably just sit at my desk with a million alligator clipped lead wires until I got it to work. Hahahaha. Those no-load pots may or may not be the right tool for the job.

I think its basically having a pickup directly to a volume pot yes, no complex wiring is necessary really The thing is that usually lower on the volume knob=less treble. I know kind of little about this stuff, but a cap should fix that, right?

Cydonia wrote: Too bad no one here is interested in talking about "gear"

Brandsmannen wrote:I think its basically having a pickup directly to a volume pot yes, no complex wiring is necessary really The thing is that usually lower on the volume knob=less treble. I know kind of little about this stuff, but a cap should fix that, right?

Honestly no clue, but I'll test some things out.

Had some stuff show up this morning:What's the best way to cut a pickguard?